Timothy MwirichiaThe news that the government is struggling to pay its workers left many dumbfounded. It paints a worrying picture and points to a government unable to function by failing in its core fiduciary duty. The relevant authorities must go back to the drawing board for urgent interventions.
Topmost among the factors leading to this worrisome situation is the runaway corruption in our country. The media is replete with news about ghost workers and evil officials who siphon from the public coffers, leaving the country’s economy on its knees. The Kenya Kwanza government, and counties, must find actionable strategies to slay the dragon of corruption and weed out ghost workers and arraign them.
Secondly, let’s end over-representation to ease the burden on the economy. Recently, President William Ruto, hitherto widely seen as a bastion of economic recovery, appointed 50 Cabinet administrative secretaries (CASs) to the utter shock of many, making his government bloated and bursting at the seams. This was seen as a slap in the face of millions of hungry Kenyans.
Grossly over-represented
With 349 Members of the National Assembly, 67 senators, 47 governors, 22 Cabinet secretaries, 50 CASs and around 1,400 members of the county assembly, Kenyans are grossly over-represented. These officials earn obscenely high salaries and perks, which has left the Treasury cash-strapped. That an MCA earns more that a nurse, teacher, policeman and even university lecturer is a mystery; our priorities are upside-down.
We need an urgent constitutional amendment to reduce the number of counties and constituencies, reduce the number of ministries and merge some parastatals. The government must also shun unnecessary borrowing and reckless and imprudent spending of public resources.
That is the only way to give the economy a new lease of life and Kenyans the needed relief.
